Disappointing day today at Barbury. Hartpury Take It 2 The Top performed his best test this season, so good I was hoping for a 28 but at the very worst expected a 33. His Barbury test felt very similar to his Aldon FEI 1* test last season when under 2 FEI judges he was right up with the leaders. It felt soft, obedient, uphill with some super medium work, he free walked for an 8, really forward, stretching down and big loose active steps. I was so pleased with him.
I show jumped before I knew my mark and when he pinged round clear I came out buzzing, thinking a fast clear XC would now put me in a top six place. So glad I went to check the dressage scores before I went steaming round the XC. When I saw he had been given one of his worst ever marks a 37 I was very disappointed and decided not to risk my superstar XC on the hard ground. He does actually like the firmer ground but as Anthony pointed out that isn't a reason to go hammering round on it just to win one point.
Maybe both Ant and I had missed something in his way of going that the judge had spotted, or maybe being Barbury the standard was higher than normal with the top riders having their best dressage horses out. I am pretty used to the subjective nature of dressage but this time it didn't feel like a good test it felt like an amazing test. How could I be so wrong, Monty consistently scores high marks in affiliated dressage at a much higher level than today's test.
Feeling rather deflated I withdrew him, drove home and entered an event taking late entries for a run in a fews weeks time. :-)
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